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Floral ontogeny of Schisandra chinensis (Schisandraceae): implications for androecial evolution within Schisandra and Kadsura

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Abstract

The organogenesis of staminate and carpellate flowers of Schisandra chinensis (Schisandraceae) was investigated with scanning electron microscopy, with observations on the development of tepals reported for the first time. The results showed that there is no interval between the initiation of the last tepal and that of the first stamen or carpel, and that the shapes of tepal, stamen, and carpel primordia are similar. The tepals and stamens of staminate flowers are initiated acropetally in a continuous spiral Fibonacci phyllotaxis, with no carpel structures observed; the filaments are not connate. The organogenesis of the carpellate flowers is similar to that of the staminate flowers, but with no evidence of stamen development. The carpels are ascidiate without postgenital fusion. Three androecial characters of Schisandra and Kadsura are discussed in a phylogenetic context. The subglobose or obovoid androecium of Schisandra propinqua and Schisandra plena may be homologous with that in sections Kadsura and Sarcocarpon. The plesiomorphic form of the androecium within the two genera is likely to be elongate with more than ten free stamens.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. KSCX2-EW-Z-2, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant Nos. 40830209 and 31100171. We thank Peter K. Endress and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive suggestions. We thank Yin-Hou Xiao and Jie Wen for assistance with SEM observations, Jian-Hua Fan for collecting materials and taking photographs, and Joe Miller and David L. Dilcher for their comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiangshan, Beijing, 100093, China

    Xiao-Yu Dong & Zhi-Duan Chen

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xiao-Yu Dong

  3. School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Zhong Liu

  4. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China

    Richard M. K. Saunders

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  1. Xiao-Yu Dong
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  2. Zhong Liu
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  4. Zhi-Duan Chen
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Correspondence to Zhi-Duan Chen.

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Dong, XY., Liu, Z., Saunders, R.M.K. et al. Floral ontogeny of Schisandra chinensis (Schisandraceae): implications for androecial evolution within Schisandra and Kadsura . Plant Syst Evol 298, 713–722 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-011-0581-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-011-0581-5

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